What are the links between Christina, a dancer in a schoolgirl's outfit at the Exotica club, and Francis, a regular patron who seems fascinated by the young woman? What makes Eric, the club's DJ, so jealous? What strange trafficking is Thomas, the quiet owner of an exotic animal shop up to?

Distinguished by the International Critics Prize at Cannes Film Festival, Exotica is not easy to grasp. The maze like narration has fun misleading viewers without totally losing them, playing with mirror games, doppelgangers and false pretences. A disconcerting experience that reveals all its flavors only with its surprising conclusion.

Jackie Berroyer

One morning in Cannes during the festival, I woke up too early after a terribly Cannesque night, and the café I entered to cleanse myself of the golden hell seemed to come out of a dream. And then I went to see Exotica. As I left the theater I told myself that the day I’d be offered a Carte Blanche at l’Étrange Festival, I would check if the film’s strangeness was the fruit of my excesses or of the director’s talent.